News Briefs: Week of April 8, 2013

Apr 05, 2013

Square Books and Joshua Miller Win ‘PW’ Awards

The PW Bookstore of the Year Award went to Square Books on the historic town square of Oxford, Miss., the center of the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, which is the setting for most of William Faulkner’s novels. Founded by Richard and Lisa Howorth in 1979, the store has grown into a trio of store fronts over the past three decades.

Bruce Joshua Miller of Miller Trade Book Marketing was named Rep of the Year by PW. Miller led the fight to keep the University of Missouri Press alive.

Night Shade Pushes Asset Sale

After several years of financial struggles, the science fiction and fantasy publisher Night Shade Books is preparing to sell its assets to Skyhorse Publishing and Start Publishing. The indie house sent a letter to agents and authors in which it notes that, as an alternative to bankruptcy, a sale of assets to Skyhorse and Start will allow authors to “get paid everything they are due, as well as find a future home for their books.”

Europeans Approve RH-Penguin

The march toward the Random House, Penguin Group merger continued last week with the news that the European Commission approved the deal without conditions. The approval by the European authorities follows the approval of the transaction by the U.S. Department of Justice, the ACCC in Australia, and the NZCC in New Zealand.

Wiley Sells Consumer Assets

John Wiley has sold more of its remaining consumer publishing assets, completing a deal April 2 to sell its pets, crafts, and general-interest consumer publishing titles to Nashville-based Turner Publishing. Shortly thereafter, the Wiley Canada division sold selected consumer titles to HarperCollins Canada.

Imprint to Reissue Forgotten YA

Ig Publishing, which for more than a decade has maintained a list of fiction and nonfiction for adult readers and reissues for the academic market, is moving in a new direction this fall with the creation of Lizzie Skurnick Books. The imprint, explained Ig publisher Robert Lasner, will “bring back the very best in young adult literature, from the classics of the 1930s and 1940s, to the thrillers and social novels of the 1970s and 1980s.”

Harlequin Cleared in Royalty Case

Harlequin has been cleared by the courts in a case filed by three authors who claimed the publisher did not pay them all the royalties they were due on e-books covered under contracts signed between 1990 and 2004. The publisher sought to dismiss the case in October, and last week Judge Harold Baer Jr. ruled in the publisher’s favor.

New Owners for Tilbury House

Publishing veterans Jon Eaton and Tris Coburn—who founded Cadent Publishing in Thomaston, Maine, two years ago—are expanding their publishing operations with the purchase of 40-year-old Tilbury House, Publishers, in the nearby town of Gardiner. They bought the press from longtime owner Neil Rolde and plan to grow both imprints as part of WordSplice Studio LLC.

Schlosser Named Exec Chairman of MHE

Ron Schlosser has been appointed executive chairman of McGraw-Hill Education. Schlosser is a senior advisor to Apollo Global Management, which bought MHE last month. Prior to joining Apollo, Schlosser held senior executive positions with a number of educational publishers.

A version of this article appeared in the 04/08/2013 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: News Briefs: Week of April 8, 2013

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